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The polls tell us that President Bush enjoys 90% support among the American people -- as high as any chief executive in U.S. history. It's time he begins to use some of that enormous popularity.
Congress has gotten itself stuck in a partisan thicket over two critical pieces of legislation -- an economic-stimulus package and a measure to clean up airport security. The latter is perhaps the single most important thing Congress can do to restore public confidence in the wake of both the September 11 terrorist attacks and the tragic American Airlines crash on Nov. 12 in New York. And a sensible economic-growth package is nearly as important. But for stimulus to matter, it must make economic sense and be done quickly.
Yet Bush has steadfastly refused to use the power of his office and his high ratings to clear the legislative brush. He continues to hang back, sending out mixed signals about what he wants. As a result, the legislative process grinds along at its usual slow pace.
A TEMPORARY GIFT. Bush is acting as if he can save his clout for sometime in the future. What he doesn't realize is that when used properly, political popularity multiplies. But it doesn't keep. One old Washington hand likens it to lettuce. You need to use it while it's fresh -- and that won't be for long.
Bush needs to take a page out of Bill Clinton's book. No, not that page. He should go to the chapter where Clinton used the power of the Oval Office to force congressional leaders to hammer out critical budget agreements. Bush must bring the Hill leadership to the White House, lock the door, and not let them leave until they have settled on the airport-security bill. Then he needs to do it again on the stimulus package.
Today, travelers enjoy neither convenience nor security. They wait for hours in lines but don't feel safe. In the meantime, Congress has spent weeks mired in a partisan squabble about whether airport screeners should be federal employees or federal contractors.
TIME TO COMPROMISE. Guess what? Nobody outside the Beltway cares. They just want the system to work. Air travelers will stand in line, but they want to be sure that it serves some real purpose. They won't waste hours waiting when they read about a guy who passes through security with seven knives and a stun gun. Bush needs to bring down the hammer on lawmakers -- Democrats and Republicans -- who won't cut a deal on this right now.
It's the same with a stimulus bill. When the House considered its version in October, Bush tried to have it both ways. First, White House aides said the bill contained things the President didn't like much. But they urged the GOP-controlled House to pass it anyway. The result: a bad bill approved on a nearly party-line vote.
Now the Senate has dug its own partisan hole. On Nov. 8, the Democratic-controlled Finance Committee passed its bill with no GOP support. It's filled with special-interest junk that will do nothing to boost the economy. Everyone from bison ranchers to chicken farmers to broadband-deploying telecom outfits get a little goodie from the grab bag. But this piñata doesn't hold much more for the overall economy than the House version.
PROVIDE COVER. The Senate could fight about tax cuts until it breaks for Thanksgiving. And even that will be only Act II. The real battle will come in a House-Senate conference committee. And without aggressive intervention from Bush, those talks could continue until Christmas.
Bush needs to sit down with congressional leaders and tell them what he really wants -- and what he can live with. He also needs to give lawmakers the political cover they require to ditch the most egregious special-interest favors contained in both bills.
Even if Bush continues his passive ways, Congress may still enact a stimulus bill. But the product will do little more than embarrass Washington and leave the economy in pretty much the same mess it's in today. And that will be very bad for George W. Bush as well as the country. That should be plenty of reason for the President to do something -- and soon, while he still can.
Gleckman is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Washington bureau. Follow his views every Tuesday in Washington Watch, only on BW Online Edited by Patricia O'Connell
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